Tomatoes get expensive

Monday

The answer? In the last few weeks, all because of a colder-than-normal Florida winter.

It's not just the record freeze that struck the Sunshine State in early January. The biggest domestic source for tomatoes has been hit by a double whammy: The freeze killed much of the state's first winter tomato crop, and continued chilly conditions have slowed the growth of a second crop, which normally would hit the market in the next couple of weeks.

The result has been much higher prices and, in some cases, short supplies. For example, if you want a slice of tomato on your cheeseburger from Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, for the time being, you're going to have to ask for it.

Otherwise, you won't get one.

"That's something we instituted at the beginning of the week," said Denny Lynch, spokesman for the Columbus, Ohio-based chain. "We took a look at the conditions and made the decision to make tomatoes available only by request until things change."

Lynch said two things led to the decision.

"First is availability; we just can't find the supplies we need," he said. "The second is quality; we're not finding the quality we're used to providing for our customers, and we wanted them to be aware of that when they're ordering from us."

Places like Wendy's are in a bind because they can't pass on the increased costs for tomatoes to their customers, said David Tkacik, owner of the Beaver County Fruit Co.

Everyone else has to deal with those extras costs, which Tkacik said are substantial.

"We're paying in the mid $40s for 20- or 25-pound cartons, and we were paying in the mid $20s just before the freeze," Tkacik said. "And this isn't going to let up for a while, either. We're not going to see that second crop until the first or second week of April, so it's going to be pretty tight until then."

Jon Clements, produce supervisor for the Kuhn's Markets, will be happy when that second crop begins arriving. For now, the local chain, which runs a store in the Hopewell Shopping Center, has to contend with short supplies of some kinds of tomatoes and prices higher than anyone has ever seen.

"One of my Florida buyers has been doing this for 40 years, and he said he's never seen prices like this," Clements said. "Some of the supply is being filled by growers in Mexico, but they know they're supplying the entire country at this point, and they're seeing dollar signs."

Clements said his buyers are telling him to hang on until mid-April, when the second Florida crop starts heading north.

"It'll be uncomfortable until then, because we don't like this any more than our customers do," he said. "This is a short-term problem, and come April, things should start to get back to normal."

Michael Pound can be reached online at mpound@timesonline.com.

From the source: Crop was 'devastated'

If there's one guy who knows the details about the problems with growing tomatoes in Florida this year, it's Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee, a trade group representing the state's producers.

"We haven't seen a winter like this ever," Brown said. "Between the freeze in January and the cool weather we've had since, our growers have been devastated in 2010."

Brown has numbers handy to back his claim:

l Normally the state would produce 25 million pounds of tomatoes a week this time of year. This year the state is producing only 20 percent to 30 percent of its usual volume,

l Losses for the state's tomato producers could total in the tens of millions of dollars.

"The recovery is coming, and we should start building volume in the coming weeks," Brown said. "We hope that comes in time to get our producers through this."

PRICES PUMPED UP

Wholesale prices for 25-pound cartons of south Florida loose tomatoes for last week, prior to the January freeze and a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

March 4, 2010: $31.95

Jan. 5, 2010: $17.95

March 4, 2009: $8.95

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